Pop Quiz: Chrissie Hynde

Aidin Vaziri | Chrissie Hynde, the singer of the Pretenders, released her first solo album earlier this year. Now she’s on the road promoting “Stockholm” with her tough-as-nails spirit fully intact, performing the songs she created with the producer Björn Yttling (from the Swedish pop group Peter Björn and John) and revisiting a handful of classics from the past. We spoke to her the day after she played her hometown of Akron, Ohio. Hynde, 62, plays Tuesday at the Masonic in San Francisco and Thursday at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa.

Q: How did you know it was time to make another album?

A: I don’t know. When you have some ideas and you feel like going back in the studio, it just happens. I don’t plan anything out.

Q: Isn’t that how your whole career has played out?

A: I don’t know. That’s what you do as an artist. I write songs and go into the studio and go on tour. My thing is, stay in the middle and not get too big.

Q: This is your first solo album. Are you used to seeing your name on the marquee?

A: I try not to think about it. I’m so tired of talking about it. Since 1985, people have said, “But it’s just you.” I don’t care what it is anymore. Call it whatever you want to call it. You can even misspell my name.